


Lunch In The Library

by draconicsockpuppet



Series: Team Dwarf [2]
Category: Dwarf Fortress
Genre: Canon-Typical Bad Ideas, Dwarven Scholarship, Gen, Mad Scientists
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-26
Updated: 2020-04-26
Packaged: 2021-03-02 04:14:43
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 650
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23658955
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/draconicsockpuppet/pseuds/draconicsockpuppet
Summary: One might think the library would be the safest place in a fortress.(One would be wrong.)
Series: Team Dwarf [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1713793
Comments: 5
Kudos: 7
Collections: What Fen Do (Instead of Going Outside), When Death Loves Flamingos





	Lunch In The Library

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Pepperdoken](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Pepperdoken/gifts).



It was another fine day in Tomebreaches. Erith Haretoes, expert smelter and talented metalcrafter, stopped and did a double-take at the door to the Unspeakable Ores, seventh library of twelve in the fortress. As its name suggested, this particular room was dedicated to chemistry and related topics like metallurgy.

"Why is there a cat in the library?" The poor kitty was sitting in a cage, face mashed up against the bars.

"We needed a diversion. Studying is hard work," Kadol Noosewhispered said from where she sat on the long granite study table, swinging a tankard of ale with abandon. She didn't look like she was working hard.

Meanwhile, Sibrek Shovelluck was talking to himself in the corner while chewing on his pen. The quill was rapidly wearing down to a nub. "According to my measurements, the viscosity of magma decreases linearly with temperature, but we don't have a way to heat it up enough to see if it's an S-curve or if that behaviour continues into the dragonfire regime…"

"What's he working on?" Erith put her plate down on the table and sank into a chair.

Kadol grinned. "Fluid dynamics!" She raised her voice. "Of course it's not going to continue into dragonfire temperatures, you idiot! Magma boils at thirteen thousand degrees Urist!"

Sibrek stopped chewing. "Oh." He put the pen down. "Are you sure about that?"

Kadol threw a hefty tome at his head. She'd obviously been in the javelin squad during her mandatory militia service; she didn't miss. Erith watched in horror. This sort of behaviour would cause a massive brawl if Kadol had done that in the tavern downstairs, but Sibrek only clutched at his head, made a soft sound of pain, and began frantically paging through the book.

"Oh! **_Oh!_** You're right!"

"Yeah, no shit." Kadol stretched. "Next time, ask first."

Erith started eating her dinner in lieu of having to get involved in this mortifying conversation. Scholars really were different. She hadn't spent much time on this side of the fortress before; normally she worked down in the forges. But her mentor had suggested that she start spending time in the metallurgy library. Duke Randomplan preferred to progress dwarves through career tracks until they became scholars: low-skilled dwarves working in the professions, high-skilled dwarves writing manuals to train the others.

It seemed a bit counterproductive to Erith, making lots of low quality items while the dwarves capable of crafting higher qualities were stuck in a room writing books no one would read, but she wasn't a noble. Perhaps there was a logic to it that she was missing. Tomebreaches' broker always managed to buy out the caravans that came by, but she was pretty sure that was because of all the prepared quarry bush roasts that the kitchen churned out, not the pig iron bins that the Duke continually ordered made and then banned export of.

"So, what did you want to study?" Kadol asked. "You're a blacksmith, yeah?"

Erith swallowed a chunk of half-chewed alpaca liver and forced out a smile. "Right. I was thinking maybe alloys?"

"Sure, that would be a good fit." Kadol ducked as Sibrek threw the book back at her. It sailed past and hit the far wall with a _thump_. "I'm working on combustion!"

Erith looked at the maniacal grin on Kadol's face and took a massive gulp of bilberry wine. These were going to be her new co-workers? Really?

Well. At least they hadn't managed to burn the fortress down yet.

"Have I told you about my wide-scale magma pump system?" Kadol winked and leaned in conspiratorially. "It's almost ready for testing!"

Erith set her tankard down and exchanged a long look with the poor cat in the cage. The tavern downstairs was, as usual, advertising for immigrants to Skullwither. It might be time to think about moving somewhere safer, like a terrifying swamp full of undead alligators.

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks to demitas for beta reading.


End file.
